Veg Biryani

We were returning from work and wanted to have biryani, so thought of checking out Abhiruchi off Green Street on Green Hollow Drive. We ordered Veg Biryani, Idly, Plain Dosa & Buttermilk and requested the Biryani to be made spicy. On this request, we just got an approval nod with a subtle smile.

The reason was not obvious till we got the food - the veg biryani was quite plain & white instead of the spicy yellow-orange color I had expected like the ones available in home of Biryani - Paradise Biryani, Hyderabad. Only then I realized why the waiter was smiling when requested to get "spicy biryani"! I walked up to the manager to ask him if he could do something about this and he asked the same thing to someone who was in the kitchen. After a lot of discussion, he finally informed me that veg biryani is ready made and so its taste cannot be changed at all! The quantity was quite good, easily enough for two people, but it was not at all spicy.

Idly, Dosa & Buttermilk were good as were the accompanying sambhar & chutney. However reputable sources informed me that the Chicken Biryani was quite good. The restaurant itself is quite good, not very crowded as there were many people waiting for take-out orders and it is quite reasonably priced.
Verdict: You can check it out if interested in reasonably priced non-veg biryani in a peaceful dining atmosphere.

We were very hungry after a long 4 hour drive from Washington D.C. so thought of checking out Paradise Biryani Pointe next to Jhupdi/HillTop Apartments on OakTree Road. Due to it's name, the expectations were quite high and more so as it had recently opened up in the former Sukhadia's location.
The Veg Biryani was spicy and yellow-orange color as expected and was really very tasty. The quantity was good, but not as much as that of Abhiruchi. However the service is not as good as the food and places tends to be crowded & noisy. One strange thing was that the waiter gave only one bowl each of salan & raita between all the people on the table! However, he did get us each a separate bowl of both when requested, albeit after quite some waiting time. The prices are slightly towards the higher range, but the taste more than makes up for it! I was informed by my reputable source that the Chicken Biryani here was awesome and one of the best!
Verdict: After a hard day of shopping at Patel & Apna Bazaar, you can have this hyderabadi biryani as the reward!

A couple of weeks later a similar situation arose during our return from a trip to Boston. We were hungry and the taste in our mouth spoiled badly by a coffee we had at Cinnabon in a service area. I am sure that the stalls selling coffee in streets of NYC make much much better coffee. So we decided to check out Dakshin Express on OakTree Road, next to Cittone Institute.
Again I ordered Veg Biryani with a request to make it spicy. The waiter was totally zapped on hearing this and did not respond for a few seconds, then nodded and went away. I started to feel as if this was going to be a re-run of my experience at Abhiruchi, but ho lo behold, this was a bit different! I got the same plain white biryani with a good sprinkling of grated green chillies on it! Now it was my turn to get zapped & freeze for a few seconds!
The place looks quite shabby and not well maintained; the prices are quite low and the food was average. My reputable source informed me that the Chicken Biryani here was quite good too so it is advisable for take-out instead of dine-in.
Verdict: Good for reasonably priced non-veg take-out

This completes (for now ...) my Veg Biryani adventure with Paradise winning it hands-down with a huge margin!